The RUC – update

I thought I’d put some pictures up here to show how the block has changed in the last 16 months (has it really been that long?)

The old cane cutter barracks we used to live in

The old cane cutter barracks being demolished

The old cane cutter barracks is gone

The Queenslander (an old Rugby Union Club or RUC as it is fondly known) is moved in on the back of a truck (in two halves)

The RUC is set in place

The RUC has a new roof put on

The RUC is given a coat of paint and wrapped in new cladding

So – what’s left? you may well ask…

We need to put stairs at the front of the veranda where the gate is. There are internal stairs, but I’d like the ‘butterfly’ stairs put on as well.

We need to finish the bathroom and the lounge room and then last (but certainly not least for the men around here) we need to finish the ‘man-cave’ underneath as well as skirting around the base to cover said ‘man-cave’ 😀

Oh Dianne, I love how much you have worked on your new home, and it is so beautiful! You truly are an inspiration for me to carry on with our work on the new Mountain Farmlet. We have been pretty discouraged this winter because it was too cold to work, but now it is warming up and we can get back at it again.

Sixteen months? That seems like such a long time, and to think we were just whining about how it will have been a year for us this April. Thank you again for the inspiration and for sharing!

We had a few hiccups that has put the work back, Lynda – but we’re getting there. The RUC was only moved here in March last year and it took the builders a while (about three months) to get it up and stable (for no other reason than they decided to take on other work to get more money). To me it seemed to take a lifetime because we couldn’t start working on it until they had done they’re bit. That part of it was all very frustrating 😦

We are just at the end of deconstruction on the inside back of the house. Now begins the reconstruction and THEN we can move in. Finally being there, and able to work a bit every day, will really speed things up! 😀

We didn’t move in until October and once we did that things happened really quickly. It’s hard to work on a place when you’re not living there. We were going there and back (after hubby came home from work) every day and not getting ‘home’ until late, it was such a relief when we actually moved in. I’m really looking forward to seeing the transformation for you as well 😀

It’s quite an endeavor–moving a building and re-habbing it. And it has turned out so well! With incredible views, and frogs, too! I’d be jealous, but we just sent off the preliminary plans for the cabin. We can’t break ground until Spring, but there’s plenty to keep us out of trouble until then. I’ll be a tradie, too.

So which room belongs to the ghekos, wasps, frogs, snakes and the like?
Doing an amazing job Di, looking brilliant, how proud you must be to see it take shape as it has 🙂
Oh yes the man cave..perfect place for it too 😉 x

It’s fantastic, Rebecca. There’s nothing better than sitting back at the end of the day and looking at something you’ve worked so hard on (just wish I could do that with my novels at the moment!) LOL 😉

Thank you, Amb. I thought I should do it this way because it’s hard to believe (even for me) how much it’s changed. I was surprised when I started putting this post together thinking, ‘wow! Things look SO different now’ 😉

It was good for me to put the pics together as well, Nancy. I couldn’t find half of them (I can never find anything since I switched to windows 8 about three years ago). I find this operating system really confusing. I’m sure I’ve taken more photos and they’re somewhere in this mess of a filing system 😉 One day an archaeologist will find them 😀

The man-cave is just a big open space under the house at the moment but there’s talk of a big TV and sports memorabilia and a bar and all sorts of boyish dreams. I’m sure it’ll happen, but not until I’ve got ‘my part’ finished first (LOL) 😀

It’s amazing that you’ve taken a building that might have been forgotten and unloved then transformed it to have a new lease of life – as a home, a sanctuary, a workplace and a man cave that will be loved for years to come. Good on you Dianne 🙂

Thanks, Tracy. This place was going to be demolished so I’m glad we saved it. We’ve got a bit of a joke going on now that the ‘powers that be’ will see it in the near future and insist on Heritage Listing it (without realising it was the same place they wanted to demolish two years ago) 😉

I am really impressed with the way you took on and tackled the moving and renovation! And the results look fantastic, which must make it all the sweeter. I’m afraid renovation is way beyond my desires or abilities, but I still envy people like you who make it look easy! 🙂

If you had told me five years ago I’d be doing this I would have laughed (very loudly) – but I guess I just ‘fell into’ this one through necessity because we needed a place to live on the farm to look after hubby’s parents. It’s something I wouldn’t do again in a hurry (LOL) 😉

I’m so glad you like it – I’m pretty proud of the achievements and it’s great to sit back at the end of a hard day and appreciate it 😀

I love the RUC. Not so sure about your menagerie of visitors though. And Peg would definitely NOT love them. Not sure if we’ll ever get a chance to come your way but I have been as far north as The Gold Coast, and always wanted to make it to Darwin. Sigh…. not in the cards at the time.
Cheers,
Peter

Oh, Dianne. Thank you so much for photographic proof that change is possible. What a lovely transformation. I have a feeling that this transformation wasn’t just physical. Congratulations. {{{Hugs}}} kozo

Aww – thank you! I should have had a film crew here through the whole process. It would have been a mix of Jerry Springer, House Rules, A nightmare on Elm Street, Sons of Anarchy and Murder She Wrote 😀